Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him

 

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.   But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." 

 

- John 6:16–27 

 

This week, the lectionary is taking us through chapter 6 of John's Gospel.  Yesterday we read that Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

 

  Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.   But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.   My study bible comments that this is the fifth sign which is recorded by John.   On the parallels with the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, we recall that Moses led the people across the Red Sea walking on dry ground in the middle of the waters (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here, Jesus has sent His disciples across the sea, and then He walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.   Once again, Jesus' word, "It is I" (in Greek ego eimi/εγώ εἰμι), is the same divine Name of God given to Moses in Exodus 3:14.

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."   Once again, the misunderstandings in John's Gospel provide a way for Jesus to expand on His own teachings to the people, and to us.  Here He tells them directly, "You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."    But as we will see, this statement also will need much more explanation.

Jesus teaches, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."   He contrasts the people's eagerness to seek out Jesus and follow Him so that they will be fed by Him, with an eagerness for the things of God.  This, He tells them quite explicitly, is the food which endures to everlasting life, and moreover is the food which the Son of Man will give, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.  So our next question must logically be for ourselves.  What is this food which endures to everlasting life, and which Christ the Son will give us?  How do we labor for this food?  The people will ask Jesus a similar, rational question in the verses that follow.  But for now, let us take on that question for ourselves.  Christ has just fed the people in the wilderness, a food for their physical hunger.   So God does not ask us to ignore our natural human needs.  On the contrary, it is a sign of God's extraordinary presence that they were filled with the food of the loaves and fishes.  But this is a sign of something much greater than food which is here today, and spoils, or is cast off as it is no longer fit to eat, or has been eaten and is no longer of any use to us.  There is another kind of food, which nourishes another necessary part of ourselves.  That is the food which endures to everlasting life, and it has to do with the truth of the word that Jesus gives us, which in turn has been given to Christ by God the Father.  This communion and connection is one that links us to the eternal life of God, a communion within ourselves that extends to us a life in which we share characteristics of God's life without ceasing to be human.  Jesus is the Son of Man as He is both human and divine.  But He offers to us this food of eternal life as part of His mission into the world, and for human beings.  It is the desire to labor for this food that He wishes to see in these people who follow frantically searching for Him, who wanted to forcefully make Him king.  So emphatically does Jesus reject the role of a worldly king that He walks on water to His disciples, at least partly as a way of evading this crowd and what they have in mind for Him.   In a certain true sense, we can observe that even out of the need to evade being taken by this crowd, Jesus reveals one more aspect of His divinity in the fifth sign revealed in John's Gospel.  That is, in walking on the water.   Even as He walks toward the disciples on the water, we could say, in this miraculous sign of divinity, Jesus walks away from worldly position and honor, a theme which recurs again and again in John's Gospel.  Those whom He walks toward, on the other hand, are the faithful who can recognize Him in faith, even if their faith is not perfect.  As we look toward the future in this chapter of the Gospel, we will see more misunderstandings as Jesus tries to preach to this crowd about the bread which comes down from heaven